Free-Range Thinking, Andy Goodman, The Goodman Center Referenced during Sept. 25, 2013 storytelling webinar

1. ast February, the US Fish and Wildlife
Service proposed removing wolves
from the endangered species list in
Idaho and Montana—an acknowledge-
ment that populations were recover-
ing in both states. The announce-
ment drew protests, however, from environ-
mentalists who feared this de-listing would
lead to indiscriminate killing.
Unfortunately, their campaign for hearts
and minds—as captured in the picture
here—is already putting a hoof in its own
mouth. The quote on the bright green
placard, presumably the wolf’s thoughts,
appears intent on shaming hunters—not
exactly a catch-more-flies-with-honey
strategy. Even worse, it assumes most
Good Cause. Lousy Message. thinking
hundreds of nonprofits, I’ve been able
to identify ten such laws. With very few
exceptions, the stories that have risen
to the top in these workshops tended to
follow every one of these laws to the letter.
he question arises at least once
during every storytelling workshop
I lead, and it drives me crazy. “Can
my organization be the protagonist
of my story?” a well-meaning non-
profiteer will ask politely.
“No!” I want to scream. “No!
No! A thousand times no!”
Discretion prevails, however,
and I explain just as politely
that people relate to people,
so stories about your work—
any line of work, really—
must provide human protago-
nists to draw the audience in
and lead them through the
narrative. And that’s not just
a recommendation, I hasten
to add. When it comes to
telling stories that an audi-
ence will remember and even
repeat to others (the ulti-
mate payoff for a well-told
tale), consider this a law.
In fact, through the process
of leading dozens of story-
telling workshops for literally
J U N E 2 0 0 7
a goodman
444 north larchmont blvd, suite 102
los angeles, ca 90004
GOOD IDEAS FOR GOOD CAUSES
T
L The 10 Immutable
Lawsof Storytelling
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people know the definition of “ungulates.”
(Full disclosure: I thought it was a kind of
clam.)
Meanwhile, the counter-protester in the
cowboy hat has a five-word message that
is clear, concise, and loaded with gut
appeal (abhorrently xenophobic as it may
be). The howling over the wolves is still far
from over, but if you ever needed a snap-
shot of why good causes often lose the
message war, you can thank The Idaho
Statesman for this one.
(And we’d like to thank Jonathan Parfrey
for bringing this picture and story to our
attention.)
PhotobyJoeJaszewski/CourtesyoftheIdahoStatesman

2. Copyright©2007byAndyGoodman,AllRightsReserved.
The 10 Immutable Laws of Storytelling
1. Stories are about people. Even if your organization (a) is devoted to saving flora and/or fauna, (b) toils in the dense thicket
of policy change, or (c) helps other organizations work more effectively, human beings are still driving the action. So your
protagonist has to be a person. And since this person also serves as the audience’s guide through the story, it’s essential to
provide some physical description when he or she is introduced. This helps your audience form a mental picture—after all,
it’s hard to follow what you can’t see. And don’t forget to include your characters’ names. Audiences will relate more readi-
ly to “Marcus” than “the at-risk youth,” even if you have to use a pseudonym to protect your subject’s identity.
2. The people in your story have to something. A story doesn’t truly begin until the audience knows precisely what the
protagonist’s goal is and has a reason to care whether or not it is attained. So within the first paragraph or two, make sure
it’s clear what your hero wants to do, to get, or to change. And given that stories are driven by some kind of desire, beware
the passive voice! When you write, “a decision was reached,” the people in your story magically disappear and suddenly the
action is forced by an unseen hand. (For more on problems with using the passive voice, see Gonzales, Alberto.)
3. Stories need to be fixed in time and space. Audiences don’t require every detail of longitude and latitude up front, but the
moment you begin telling your tale, they will want to know: Did this happen last week or ten years ago? Are we on a street
corner in Boston, a Wal-Mart in Iowa, or somewhere else? If you help them get their bearings quickly, they will stop wonder-
ing about the where and when of your story and more readily follow you into the deeper meaning within.
4. Let your characters speak for themselves. When characters speak to each other in a story, it lends immediacy and urgency
to the piece. Audience members will feel as if they are the proverbial fly-on-the-wall within the scene, hearing in real time
what each person has to say. Direct quotes also let characters speak in their idiosyncratic voices,lending authenticity to the
dialogue. “The name is Bond, James Bond,” is way better than, “The agent introduced himself, characteristically repeating
his surname twice.”
5. Audiences bore easily. Human beings are hard-wired to love stories, but in this, The Age of Too Much Information, people
don’t have time to wait for your story to get interesting. Within the first paragraph or two, you have to make them wonder,
“What happens next?” or “How is this going to turn out?” As the people in your story pursue their goal, they must run into
obstacles,surprises,or something that makes the audience sit up and take notice. Otherwise they’ll stand up and walk away.
6. Stories speak the audience’s language. According to national literacy studies, the average American reads at a sixth grade
level. So if your ads, posters, and publications are intended for mass consumption, plain speaking is the order of the day.
Good storytellers also have a keen ear for the colloquialisms and local slang that quickly establish common ground between
the teller and listener.
7. Stories stir up emotions. Human beings (which should, hopefully, comprise the majority of your audience) are not inclined
to think about things they do not care about. We all have too much on our plate as it is. So even when you have mountains
of hard evidence on your side, you have to make your audience feel something before they will even glance at your numbers.
Stories stir the emotions not to be manipulative, not simply for melodramatic effect, but to break through the white noise
of information that inundates us every day and to deliver the message this is worth your attention.
8. Stories don’t tell: they show. Intellectually, your audience will understand a sentence such as, “When the nurse visited the
family at home, she was met with hostility and guardedness.” But when you write, “When they all sat down for the first time
in the living room, the family members wouldn’t look her in the eye,” your audience will see a picture, feel the hostility, and
become more involved with the story.
9. Stories have at least one “moment of truth.” At their essence, the best stories show us something about how we should
treat ourselves, how we should treat other people, or how we should treat the world around us. Since the first forms of
humankind gathered around the first fires,we have looked to stories to be containers of truth,and your audience will instinc-
tively look within your story for this kind of insight.
10. Stories have clear meaning. When the final line is spoken, your audience should know exactly why they took this journey
with you. In the end,this may be the most important rule of all. If your audience cannot answer the question,“What was that
story all about?” it won’t matter how diligently you followed rules one through nine.
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